I don’t know about you, but my kids seem to leave more toothpaste in the sink than in their mouths and toothbrushes when they brush their teeth. If this is like you, read on for my tips for keeping your bathroom sink clean of toothpaste stains.
1. Buy white toothpaste, so stains don’t set as quickly.
So your kids want the toothpaste with nice colors and flavors to brush their teeth? Tell them to first make sure they are more careful about staining the entire sink before going back to staining the colored things.
2. Clean the sink both morning and night, very quickly, every day.
I’m not talking about a marathon exfoliation session here, but rather a quick cleanse. If you schedule these cleanings to wait until everyone has brushed their teeth, any toothpaste left in the sink will still be fresh and will easily wash off with a little water and a finger rub. If you let it sit and dry, you have to rub much harder to remove the toothpaste.
The easiest way I’ve found to do this is to simply make sure I’m the last person in the house to brush their teeth. When I’m done I just clean the sink and it takes about 10 seconds of my time.
Better yet, teach your kids, as part of their toothbrushing routine, to clean the sink after spitting and rinsing, and to put the cap back on the toothpaste so it doesn’t accidentally come out when something gets dirty. put on top that.
3. Re-moisten dried toothpaste to make it easier to remove.
For that really dry toothpaste that somehow got overlooked in your daily cleaning sessions, your best bet is to re-moisten it, to make it easier to remove. There are several ways to do this, including sprinkling or spraying it with tap water, or placing a damp paper towel over the dry toothpaste to really soak it in.
Once the toothpaste is wet again, it’s usually pretty easy to wipe it off of the bathroom sink, just like fresh toothpaste. If some of it is still dry and hard to remove, take a soft scrubbing sponge or old toothbrush and gently wipe away the dried toothpaste until your bathroom sink sparkles again.
4. If a toothpaste stain has developed, try a cleansing poultice.
If a drop of colored toothpaste has been left in the bathroom sink for so long that a colored stain has developed, and even after the toothpaste has been removed the color remains, it needs to be take more drastic action.
I suggest using a cleaning poultice made of baking soda and water, spread it over the stained area, and then cover it with plastic wrap so the paste doesn’t dry too quickly. Leave it overnight and then remove the plastic wrap and wipe off the paste and hopefully the toothpaste stain as well.
If this doesn’t work, you can also try a cleaning poultice with hydrogen peroxide, but be careful as it can damage your bathroom sink so I would only do this as a last resort. Also, after about 10 minutes, you should check the sink to make sure the hydrogen peroxide poultice isn’t damaging your sink, and again every hour for a couple of hours, until you’re sure the hydrogen peroxide isn’t damaging nothing. If it appears to damage your sink, remove the poultice immediately, rinse thoroughly with water, and either give up the stain or call a professional.
